JOURNEY LUTHERAN CHURCH - VISION BOARD MEETING MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm on May 17, 2016 with devotion by Dave Pehl
Present: Meredith Hink, Wendy Evert, Dave Pehl, Jim Welander, Jeremiah Boardman, Bob Tracey, Nancy Haese, TJ Barth, Beth Davidson, Jayne Oliver, Jim Compton, Michelle Renkas
Absent: Pastor Brad, Julie Rudolph, Eric Davidson, Sara Sykora
Old Business
April Minutes
The April Minutes were reviewed with no questions. Bob Tracey motioned to Approve and Dave Pehl seconded motion.
Financial Report
The April P&L report was reviewed – Wendy Evert inquired about the Handbell Fund balance; the balance for the fund is $6,944 and more donations have been promised. A member from the Bell Choir purchased the Bells and will be reimbursed. Brian Renkas found a set for purchase on Ebay for $8,050 including shipping. It was requested that the fund be kept open due to the condition of the cases for the bells; the cases will need to be replaced. The bells were in excellent condition and had been professionally cleaned before the purchase.
Bob inquired about the amount for the remaining pledges for Journey Forward. JF will continue until the end of 2016 and close at the end of fiscal year. Jim asked if we could assemble a list of people who made pledges but have left the congregation. Jim Welander moved to approve the financial report and Wendy Evert seconded motion.
New Business
Financial Committee
The Financial Committee will be meeting to develop a plan on how to present our financial giving post JF; capital improvement, mission support, general fund, etc., in addition to individual savings funds. The goal would be to develop a way to communicate and educate the Congregation on how our finances are utilized, and establishing a procedure for recording of special funds for easy record keeping in the future.
Halfway Creek Lutheran Church
No new updates from Halfway Creek Lutheran Church. There are several congregations in the La Crosse Synod going through transitions at the moment.
Call Committee
The Call Committee presented the MSP (Ministry Site Profile) to the Vision Board. The purpose of the MSP is similar to a job profile/description and will help the Synod identify what gifts and traits we are looking for in the next Pastor.
The Call Committee went through the entire MSP report explaining and clarifying statistics and fine points of the breakdowns and trends that were on the report.
The MSP will be sent to the Synod for approval and then it will be made available to Clergy interested in having a Call.
The MSP is broken into 5 parts
· Who We Are – Statistics, Demographics and general information about Congregation, along with financial standing.
· Our Vision for Mission – Description of Community of Congregation, Membership trends, Programs offered, Goals of Congregation, Energy of Congregation, Partnerships
· Leadership Needs – What experience we prefer in a Pastor, Task that will be the responsibility of Pastor, essential gifts of prospective Pastor, Expectations, Compensation and benefits
· Commentary (where we convey who we are as a Congregation and other insights that may be useful to an applicant.)
· Completion of Profile – a description of how information was gathered and approved.
One thing that was noted on the MSP was that we are missing a Mission Statement and Purpose Statement that can be included with the MSP; this could be included as an attachment. The Vision Board is working to develop these documents along with the goals of the Congregation.
It was referenced in the report that JLC is collaborative with HLC & HCLC
Information for the Ministry Tasks and Gifts for Ministry were pulled from the Survey. On the MSP form the Call Committee had to identify the 5 top Ministry Tasks, the 5 tasks chosen were:
· Counseling/Social Work
· Evangelism/Mission
· Recruit and Equip Leaders
· Youth and Family Ministry
· Preaching/Worship
Meredith noted that it was interesting that Counseling and Social Work was picked over Ministry and Daily life. Pr Brad felt that Counseling and Social Work was a strong part of being a Pastor. Meredith pointed out that we have 5 members who have been trained as Stephen Ministers who can help an incoming Pastor who may not feel that this is strong in social work but have the other gifts that we are looking for. Counseling was considered as a strong need for the Congregation. The Call Committee noted that it was very difficult to only pick 5 top tasks and that they had lengthy discussions on each point; could easily have chosen 10 or 11 tasks.
Meredith felt that Ministry in Daily life would have been more important and using it as a leadership skill; in fact this is why we hired a Faith Formation Director. Michelle Renkas expressed that upon speaking with families, there is a feeling that this is a strong need of the congregation also.
It was also noted that the gifts desired in a Pastor on the MSP is just the starting point of the conversation and that in the Interview process we can clarify the other gifts/needs of the Congregation in a final candidate.
Gifts for Ministry section, the Call Committee were instructed to choose 5 Top Priority Gifts and 5 Very Helpful Gifts
Top Priority
· Help others develop their leadership abilities and skills for ministry
· Be an effective teacher
· Be creative and innovative about his or her tasks
· Be able to use technology and media
· Have talents in the areas of music, arts and writing
Very Helpful
· Help people develop their spiritual life
· Be and effective administrator
· Be and effective communicator
· Understand and interpret the mission of the Church from a global perspective
· Be able to share leadership and work in a team
There will be a strong emphasis on Youth in the selection process and as an immediate need and this was indicated in the Ministry Task section. Once again choosing the top five characteristics was difficult.
In the Compensation section, Bob Tracey clarified that we would be offering a Housing Allowance vs Parsonage; this will be clarified with Pr Libby. Compensation needs to be clarified with Pr Libby also. Does this wage include housing allowance, SS offset? The wage stated in the MSP was based on 15 years of experience. Actual compensation will be based on years of experience.
Budget money will be needed during the interview process for lodging and travel; this was accounted for when this years’ budget was developed.
There is no position description for Pastor which needs to be developed; the Personnel Committee will get this developed.
The Commentary at the end of the MSP was basically a history of how Journey was formed and a final chance to show what Journey was about. Bob Tracey moved to accept MSP and Dave Pehl seconded.
Other Items
· At the last VB meeting there was a question about the dog attending the NA Meeting. It was reported that this is a Service dog and will be allowed to continue attending.
· John Haese and Caleb Boardman are working on a Maintenance Manual that will include all maintenance duties and will have YouTube videos showing how control panels are used.
o Included in this is manual will be the banners used in the Sanctuary and decorating of the church.
o These YouTube videos would be unlisted videos and marked as private and not publicly available.
· John Haese plans to step down from the Property Team. More volunteers are need on the Property Team to help with the maintenance.
· Bob pointed out that we provide a lot of opportunities for the Youth in the Church and would like to see the Youth take on some of the responsibilities. How do we get the youth more involved in everyday life of the Congregation. It is important that the Youth realize that taking on responsibilities is part of being a part of the Congregation.
o Wendy pointed out that the National Honor Society has a Service component and maybe we could encourage Youth to do their volunteer work here.
Dave Pehl proposed doing a local mission projects for one week; possibly with Habitat for Humanity or another organization. With it being local we could do a more Intergenerational program and include a camping component. This would be a great way to show the local need. Informational materials are available from the Synod on these types of projects. A good way to start might be with a 3 day event.
o Could work it with Bike & Build which will be July 20th. B&B will be doing a Bike Rodeo while here. Holmen and Halfway Creek have been invited to participate.
o Bike & Build donates money to Habitat for Humanity in our name for hosting their stay.
Jim Welander brought up the Wifi connection and is getting a bid on improving the connectivity throughout the building. There is money in the Worship Fund to pay for this upgrade.
Action Items
· Finish development of Mission Statement and Purpose Statement
· Development of Job Description for Pastor
· Planning of Bike & Build Bike Rodeo event
· Wifi connection estimate
The meeting adjourned.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, June 16th at 6:30 pm. Jim Welander to provide Bible devotion for June meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Julie Rudolph
2